– MILETICH RETURNS WITH KNOCKOUT WIN

With seemingly the entire Miletich Fighting Systems family in attendance, head coach and trainer Pat Miletich returned to action with a knockout win over Thomas Denny at Adrenaline MMA 2 on Thursday night.

The first round saw solid stand-up and groundwork from Miletich, who was able to control Denny at every turn. Miletich came out firing punches in the second round. An inside right followed by a big right hook sent Denny crashing to the mat. Seconds later the referee pulled Miletich off and the legendary fighter scored his first win since 2001.

Following the victory, Miletich didn’t guarantee his return to MMA, but he did throw out a challenge.

“You know, actually, I’d like to fight somebody like Antonio Tarver or Winky Wright, or somebody like that from the boxing world,” Miletich said after the win. “Let’s get it on.”

After a loss to Andrei Arlovski in his last fight, Ben Rothwell got back to his winning ways in a sloppy fight against journeyman heavyweight Chris Guillen in the first round of their match-up. Rothwell stuffed an early takedown from Guillen and never let his opponent out from under him for the remainder of the fight.

After an armbar attempt, Rothwell landed a number of elbows and soon after, Guillen tapped out, putting an end to the bout. Rothwell doesn’t have any fights scheduled in the near future, but he made a simple promise to whoever steps in against him.

“Wherever I fight, I’m going to keep smashing guys,” Rothwell said after the fight.

Mike Russow upped his record to 11-1 at the expense of Braden Bice, choking out the Pennsylvania native at just over a minute in the first round. As Russow went for a single-leg takedown, Bice tried for some kind of jumping submission, which missed and landed him flat on the mat. Soon after, Russow made a slick transition and locked on a north-south choke for the submission.

Former IFL fighter Mike Ciesnolevicz got a win over previously undefeated Derrick Mehman by guillotine choke in the second round of their fight. The two exchanged strikes for the biggest part of the bout, but when the guillotine choke opened up, Ciesnolevicz wrapped Mehman’s neck forcing the tap.

Almost finished in the first round, Dan Loman bounced back in the second to put Gabe Lemley away with a series of punches. Loman was rocked and close to being out, but he made it to the end of the first. In the second round, Loman kept the pressure on, bringing an end to the fight after a solid combination of strikes that put Lemley on the mat, causing the referee stepped in to stop the bout.

Another IFL veteran, Ryan McGivern, made short work of Geno Roderick in their fight in Adrenaline, ending it in the first round. McGivern hit a trip takedown, moving quickly to mount and then taking his opponent’s back before sinking in the fight ending rear naked choke.

Pat Curran made his cousin Jeff proud on Thursday night, picking up a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Ramiro Hernandez in a three-round war between lightweights. Curran dominated the first round of the fight, landing numerous strikes, as well as a takedown and a near submission stopped by the end of the round.

The following rounds saw Hernandez come back strong with a good striking game, but Curran persevered with quick takedowns, another submission attempt, and a dominant ground and pound attack. In the end, Curran got the nod from the judges, while he continues his progression as a pro fighter.

Jesse Lennox was happy to keep his fight against Ryan Williams standing, but after his opponent took the fight to the ground, Lennox showed his submission game. Moving from an armbar to a triangle choke, Lennox forced a tap from Williams midway through the first round to get the win.

Former IFL standout LC Davis made short work of seasoned opponent Billy Kidd. Following a series of back and forth action, Kidd scores a takedown, but Davis immediately reverses and soon secures a side choke for the win at 2:52 of the opening round.

In the night’s opening bout, Danny Rodriguez wasted no time with Miletich-trained fighter David Fuentes. Rodriquez struck first with a vicious body kick. The effectiveness was evident on the face of Fuentes. After clinching and a few well-placed knees, Rodriguez scores a double-leg takedown and soon follows with a rear naked choke for the finish in less than two minutes of round one.